Huawei CFO suing Canada, its border agency and police over her arrest

An executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is suing the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force, saying they detained, searched and interrogated her before telling her she was under arrest.

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou said overnight they had filed a notice of civil claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court.

Canada arrested the daughter of Huawei's founder at the request of the US on December 1 at Vancouver's airport.

Ms Meng is wanted on fraud charges that she misled banks about the company's business dealings in Iran.

The suit alleges that instead of immediately arresting her, authorities interrogated Ms Meng "under the guise of a routine customs" examination and used the opportunity to "compel her to provide evidence and information."

The suit alleges Canada Border Service Agency agents seized her electronic devices, obtained passwords and unlawfully viewed the contents and intentionally failed to adviser her of the true reasons for her detention.

The suit said only after three hours was she told she was under arrest and had right to counsel.

Ms Meng is out on bail and living in Vancouver awaiting extradition proceedings.

Relations between China and Canada have strained over the arrest. (AAP)

On Friday, Canadian Justice Department officials gave the go-ahead for her extradition proceedings to begin.

Ms Meng is due in court on Wednesday to set a date for the proceedings to start. It could be several months or even years before her case is resolved.

Ms Meng's arrest set off a diplomatic furore and severely strained Canadian relations with China.

Beijing has accused Washington of a politically motivated attempt to hurt a potential competitor to US technology vendors.

China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor on December 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Ms Meng.

A Chinese court also sentenced a Canadian to death in a sudden retrial, overturning a 15-year prison term handed down earlier.

Mr Kovrig and Mr Spavor haven't had access to a lawyer or to their families since being arrested.

Messages left for the Canadian government, the Canada Border Services Agency and Royal Canadian Mounted Police were not immediately returned.